Ec cancels accreditation fees for journalists during elections

- The chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Adukwei Mensah, has announced that journalists would no longer pay for accreditation to report on elections again

- According to her cost of accreditation in the budget would be handled by the commission

Jean Adukwei Mensa, the chairperson of the Electoral Commission, has announced that journalists will no longer be required to pay for election accreditation to report on elections starting from 2020 and beyond.

According to her, the cost of accreditation for elections was so small in the election budget that the commission can cater for it, according to a report by Citifmonline.com.

Madam Mensah said this in response to a request made by Affail Monney, the president of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), when he led a five-member delegation of the executive to pay a courtesy call on the Electoral Commission on Wednesday, January 23 in Accra.

“The impact of election is so costly, and therefore, we would want to have accredited people at every corner of the country who are well trained to do effective and efficient reportage during elections,” the EC chair noted.

Madam Mensah acknowledged the media’s role in ensuring free and fair elections over the years, and assured of the commission’s commitment towards partnering them to ensure election integrity and credibility.

She said the commission could not have achieved the transparent and credible elections in 2016 without the media, adding that it seeks to replicate the success during election 2020.

On the reporting code, Madam Mensah expressed worry about a section of the media that often resorted to sensationalism.